Chapter 180: For the Sake of a Story Not Yet Known (11)
Chapter 180: For the Sake of a Story Not Yet Known (11)
Naturally, the enemy would desperately try to exploit this opening to attack.
"Barriers will be going up everywhere, so don't move unnecessarily. Instead, fire off one massive attack straight ahead."
Most of their efforts wouldn't even get through.
A few more steps, and this long, grueling battle would finally be over.
Both Iona and I would be able to see the end while still breathing.
That was enough for me.
While I indulged in those sentimental thoughts for a moment, Iona scattered a massive amount of mana into the surroundings.
She wasn't kidding about not holding back her magic; she gathered the blood pooled across the area and launched it in the shape of a giant fist.
"Ihoha Huh-chi!"
Since she was still biting my neck, her pronunciation was a bit mangled... but I could still tell what she was saying.
An Iona Punch? It was a kick last time....
Regardless of my disbelief, the Iona Punch flew forward, radiating a murderous aura.
It looked ready to crush anything in its path, but suddenly, a large hole was gouged out of its center.
Crunch!
A massive bite mark, large enough to swallow an entire house. I suppose the Archbishop of Confused Unity was also aiming for a desperate finishing blow.
However... the size of the Iona Punch was far greater than the hole that had been bitten out of it, rendering the counterattack a futile struggle.
For the followers of Confused Unity, who lacked mobility, it was a wall of blood with such immense mass that it was impossible to dodge.
Up until now, Iona's spells had been powerful, but she hadn't unleashed a single massive strike like the ones I'd seen from a distance before.
Had she been preparing this all along?
Perhaps the enemy realized they were doomed if things continued like this. The barriers they had scattered to restrict our movement vanished. Instead, they were concentrated around the Archbishop of Confused Unity.
Taking advantage of that gap, Iona used Blink to widen the distance. At first, I was worried if she was really okay since she seemed to have half-lost her mind, but she was fighting just fine even while drinking my blood.
The problem was that this wasn't the end.
Immediately after our teleportation ended, Ayla’s Magic Eyes fired all at once, targeting our brief moment of vulnerability.
The timing was too tight to deal with it perfectly.
"It can't be helped! Yandel, get your heart ready!"
"That’s usually what people say right before they die!"
Despite my protest, Iona chuckled and threw herself toward the least harmful-looking glow.
And then, the world turned upside down.
The ground, which had been gouged out by the aftermath of the battle, became a black sea like tar, and the sky shattered, with meteors falling through the cracks.
The stench of filth brushed against my nose, and I felt the sensation of something crawling up my forearms.
Of all things, it had to be an illusion-type Magic Eye.
Auditory, visual, olfactory, tactile hallucinations....
Falsehoods were being overlaid onto reality. It was a situation where I couldn't properly judge what was real and what was fake.
Part of it might have been because I was weakened by the side effects, but it was more accurate to say that Ayla’s Magic Eyes were just that powerful.
"Uh... Professor Iona, are you okay? I think I've been hit by an illusion."
"Mmmph? Mmm-mmmph."
I really couldn't tell what she was saying this time. However, her tone wasn't negative, so I assumed she was fine.
I just had to make sure my mind didn't break here, right?
I wanted to drink another Mind Defense Potion, but I was currently suffering from the side effects of mixing various drugs in my stomach like a cocktail.
If it were a regeneration-type like a Healing Potion, it might be different, but if I drank an enhancement-type potion now, I’d probably drop dead on the spot.
So, I just had to endure it raw.
It was fine. It felt like I had been dropped into another world all by myself, but it wasn't like this was the first time I'd experienced that.
More importantly, there was something that remained vivid even amidst all this.
The sensation of Iona against my neck and the pleasure of the bloodsucking spreading like poison.
I focused all my senses there and didn't even glance at anything else.
No matter what horrific sights or phantom pains I experienced, it was bearable this way.
Well, there were moments when my neck felt lighter, as if she had finished drinking... but at those times, I just hugged Iona tightly and buried my face in her soft cushions, and I calmed down quickly.
By the time she had sucked my blood about three or four more times, Ayla’s illusion finally broke.
When I opened my eyes, I saw that all the remaining Archbishops had been killed in the meantime.
"...What? You already took them all down?"
"Ahem, ahem. Once the number of Archbishops drops this much, I can manage somehow even without your help, Yandel!"
"Heh. So you're saying that sucking my blood is so natural that you don't even need to be thankful?"
"Ugh... It's thanks to you that we won so smoothly! Is that enough?"
"Hmm, hmm. That's better."
It was like pulling teeth to get a thank you, but good was good.
Iona and I both snickered at the same time.
On the surface, we were casually exchanging conversation ahead of our victory, but even while doing so, I kept my eyes fixed on Ayla.
Even though she was the only one left, Ayla was still a powerful Cardinal.
If we let our guard down, it was obvious we’d be hit by a counterattack in an instant. We had to give it our all until the very end.
For that reason, I watched Ayla warily, only to see...
"No... this is wrong... I'm losing? It's all Sister's fault! If only she weren't here! If only! Then I wouldn't have had to crawl and beg miserably under that old man! I wouldn't have had to kill the Prince with my own hands! Why! I'm not the bad one! I'm the victim! So why...!"
She was shaking her head violently, denying reality.
But her words were, well... how should I put it? Yes, they were formed from an extremely narrow-minded perspective.
Since I knew the general circumstances of the two, I could guess why she was acting like that.
Ayla truly believed that she had become unhappy because of Iona.
Because Iona ran away, she was kidnapped and turned into a plaything; because Iona couldn't find her, she had to crawl in a basement for over ten years; and even the Prince who saved her was taken away by Iona.
Her ordinary life, her happiness as a woman, and the single ray of hope that had descended into the gutter.
She believed everything had been stolen from her by Iona.
She would blame Iona for her twisted life, for her own mistakes, and for the fact that she was now on the verge of death.
Because to Ayla, Iona was the root of all evil.
...Though at this point, it was impossible to tell if these words were even Ayla’s true feelings.
The more one used the power of the Evil God, the more it stimulated the believer's emotions and drove them in a desired direction.
That way, the believer could receive even stronger Authority, and the Evil God could create a vessel worthy of becoming its Apostle.
In the past, Ayla might have actually liked Iona quite a bit.
Despite everything, Iona might have cherished Ayla as well.
Perhaps... there could have been a slightly different ending.
But it was too late. Neither of them seemed to have any intention of stopping.
All that remained was for them to clash until one of them broke....
"...Huh?"
I was tightening my nerves in anticipation of the final battle, but then.
The countless irises of Ayla, which had been glaring this way with a multitude of eyes, all began to turn green.
"That! That's the Awakening pattern! Professor! We have to do something now! Hit her with anything big, right now!"
Calling it an "Awakening" was just a fancy term; it was essentially a self-destruct move.
It was a technique only those at the Cardinal-level could use, sacrificing themselves... The setting was that they would lose their human form and reason, but in exchange, they would become a terminal for the Evil God.
They wouldn't quite be at the level of an Apostle, but somewhere between a Cardinal and an Apostle?
Whether they won or lost, they were guaranteed to lose themselves, so even cultists rarely used it—yet she was using it here.
Of course, the countermeasure was simple. Kill her before she completely transformed.
With Iona’s exceptionally destructive magic, she should have enough damage output.
For that reason, I hurriedly tapped Iona’s arm, but for some reason, Iona was just standing there blankly.
"Professor? Professor Iona?! We're all going to die if this keeps up!"
It had been a while since not only the original eyes on her face but even the eyeballs sprouting from her arms had been dyed a deep green.
Now, eyes began to crawl up from her shoulders, wriggling as they started to consume Ayla’s body.
If it continued like this, she would become a giant monster-like thing made entirely of eyeballs.
Once it reached that point, even the Shining Lion Dagger wouldn't work. Naturally, it was uncertain whether we could win even if reinforcements arrived.
She would eventually self-destruct over time... but the problem was how much damage she would cause in the meantime.
In H&A, there was a time when a whole country was destroyed because the player retreated, thinking they couldn't win.
"Aaaagh! I told you to snap out of it, Professor Iona! Did you get caught in an illusion without me knowing?!"
In my frustration, I tried to slap Iona’s cheek.
Snap.
"Stop, stop! I'm sane, so don't rush me so much!"
"No, you're watching that while sane? I have no intention of committing double suicide with you, Professor!"
"Eeeek! It's not like that. Look over there, Yandel."
Iona stretched out her hand, pointing to the spot she had been staring at blankly.
"...Eh?"
Six mages were floating behind Ayla—I had no idea how long they had been there.
Clad in robes and masks, they radiated a suspicious pressure... but somehow, they looked familiar.
"Ah."